Adam Mansbach's The Golem of Brooklyn
So this author has written plenty of novels and co-written humorous non-fiction with Dave Barry, etc, but is probably most famous for writing “Go the Fuck to Sleep,” and I wasn’t sure what to expect here, but I love golems so I figured I’d give it a try. I did almost put it down at one point when The Golem (who has learned English from watching Larry David) is like “why am I here, what crisis is facing the Jews” and his stoner creator is like “I dunno, intermarriage? The Israel/Palestinian conflict?” and I was boiling with rage because like, this book wasn’t written five years ago, and even if it WAS written five years ago, the Tree of Life shooting had already happened! In MY hometown! Antisemitism is on the rise in a scary way, so go fuck YOURSELF, stoner guy!
But like otherwise I was enjoying this mildly ridiculous Jewish-themed dad-fic kind of book, and one of the other main characters is a formerly Hasidic lesbian, and I hardly ever get Jewish lesbian characters, so I stuck with it. Jewish lesbian and golems, in one book? Ok, you get another chance. And she does bring up Charlottesville, and The Golem is ready to stomp some antisemites at another planned rally. But things do not go according to plan.
This book was kind of weird? Some good character development, some cardboard cutouts (I could have done with way less of the POV of the white supremacist cop). I liked when the author/The Golem brought in bits of Jewish history. The Golem was GREAT all around and the end of this was legitimately interesting. But I have no idea who the audience is for this! Besides, like, me. Lol. A-/B+.
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A review copy was provided by the publisher. This book will be released on September 26th.
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